Hero
by Whofan14
Summary: The epic tale of a forgotten heroine. Join Faron on her many adventures across Hyrule and beyond! Faron loves adventure and being the hero, but she has to realize the full weight of her role in an era in Hyrule's history where darkness lies just beneath the surface. Can she and her friends overcome the demons that lie in wait, or will they succumb to the ones that lie within?
1. Prologue I

**A/N: Welcome to the beginning of my epic tale! We're gonna start off with a prologue, and what better way to start than at the very beginning. This is more a little taste of my writing style and my love of stylizing the already-epic-Legend. Obviously, The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, and anything you recognize from what's been officially published by them belongs to them, not me. However, characters like Faron and company are of my own creation and I'd appreciate it if you respect my brain children! The story takes place on the Child Timeline in the Twilight Era, a good 100 years or so after the Shadow Invasion. This isn't remotely canon (obviously) and isn't intended to tie into the timeline in any serious way. In fact, it's supposed to be kind of a forgotten tale, one that didn't go down in the history books but did in the hearts of the people. So without further ado, I present to you: _Hero_. **

**I**

Long ago, when the earth was bathed in darkness and all was chaos, three golden goddesses descended from the heavens. Din, with her flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore, with her bountiful spirit, produced all life forms who would uphold the law. Once their work was done, the golden goddesses returned to the heavens from whence they came. The place where they left the world became known as the Sacred Realm, and there they a left a gift for the world they had created.

Three Golden Triangles, each representing the virtues of Power, Wisdom, and Courage, together formed the Triforce, a relic that could grant the wish of any who touched it. The Goddesses left this relic in the hands of their daughter Hylia, but the Triforce was created with one condition: non-mortals could not lay their hands on it.

For many years, the races of the earth thrived in peace. Hylia in particular favored a group of humans, and watched over them from the end of time itself. However, once the races learned of the existence of the Triforce, and the power it had, they all wanted to take it for themselves.

Wars broke out and innocence began to decay as the races turned on each other and themselves, brothers tore down brothers. From the fighting, arose several new tribes. One was the Dark Tribe, a race of selfish magic wielders, who decimated the other races with their dark shadow magic. But worst of all was the Demon Tribe, a race born from the crags of earth where the blood of the innocent had soaked into the soil. The Demons were monsters, beasts desperate for power, and their leader was the King of Demons himself, Demise. Demise contained within himself a deep and powerful hatred for the goddesses, for they had gifted Hylia with the Triforce and not him. Demise lead the Demon Tribe forth against Hylia and her people, with every intention of taking the Triforce for himself. Hylia fought bravely against Demise, and managed to seal him away, but sustained mortal injuries as a result. To protect her people from the chaos that had consumed the world, Hylia gathered the humans on a small plot of land, and sent it forth into the skies, far above the clouds where the demons could not reach.

As Hylia's injuries took their fatal toll, she knew her seal on Demise could not last forever. He would surely arise once more, and, even in a weakened form, wreak havoc on the earth. So, in her final moments, Hylia devised a plan, one in which she herself would be reborn as a human, alongside her chosen hero. Her hero would be guided by the spirit of the Goddess's Sword, and led to unite earth and sky once more, and destroy Demise once and for all. A thousand years passed, and Hylia's plan came to fruition. The hero, a young boy in green, succeeded not only in proving himself and obtaining the Triforce, he also forged the ultimate weapon, the blade of evil's bane known as the Master Sword, and used it to defeat Demise and seal his decaying spirit within the Master Sword. However, in Demise's final breaths, he laid a curse on Hylia and the hero: for all eternity, their descendants would be plagued by his hatred and revenge. Evil would forever rise from the earth, again and again. The world would never see everlasting peace.

Seeing Demise's curse, the gods of old decided that whenever evil was to rise once more on earth, the hero would be born again, and would use the blade of evil's bane to banish it away once more. So, for over 2 thousand years, the hero was reborn again and again, and each time he succeeded in banishing the evil of Demise's curse, protecting the kingdom Hylia had established, the land of Hyrule.

After many centuries of enduring the evils of Demise's curse, Hyrule began what many called an era of peace. Some believed it to be an omen when the king's daughter was born with black hair and brown eyes, instead of the blonde hair and blue eyes of all the other descendants of Hylia. But it seemed the princess's strange appearance protected her from the curse of Demise, as she did not resemble the goddess. The people reveled in joy when the now Queen Zelda gave birth to a young prince, as the birth of boys in the royal family signified freedom from the evils of the earth. Their happiness was quickly shattered, when the Queen was murdered by a small group of thieves, leaving the young prince an orphan. As the young boy took the throne as Hyrule's new king, the people still had faith that they were entering a new era of peace. The gods of old looked upon Hyrule, a land that would not need the hero again for some time...

Or so they thought. Little did even the ancient gods know, the evil of demise was beginning to rise once more in secret, planning to consume Hyrule and its king when least suspected. By the time the gods realized their mistake, it was too late for the hero to be reborn in this era. The goddess Farore looked down from that Distant Nebula, fearing for the beings she had given life to, and knew she was left with a choice—

And a sacrifice.


	2. Prologue II

**A/N: Now we're gettin' to the original stuff! This was actually the first part of the story I ever wrote down, back when _Hero_ was just a gender bent TP sequel in my brain (it's come a long way since then, let me tell you). All that aside, I've always been proud of our heroine's humble (:P) beginnings, so here it is! LoZ belongs to Nintendo of course. P.S. What I'd give to make my own animated series! If you're curious, at this point is where I'd cue the title credits to the tune of a vocal cover of "Through the Sea of Time" That's just for the prologue though. :D**

II

The stars shined quietly in the sky, pitch darkness surrounding them. Suddenly, so quick no one but the stars could have noticed, the darkness lit up with a burst of bright green light. From the now shining horizon shot out a bright shooting star, emitting radiance the shade of green grass. In the middle of this star was a magnificent golden form, and as the star traveled across the darkness, the bright horizon dying down behind her, the golden thing began to take on a new shape. Its beautiful form shrank and curled upon itself, its features softened, the gold melted away from her skin.

The star continued on its path, but soon the darkness ended, and it was now shooting through clouds, across a dark blue sky, the stars still watching, holding their breath. The green star shot over mountains, oceans, lakes, even a monumentous castle came into view, its towers spiraling up into the sky itself. The star passed over this castle, not even noticing the young boy standing on one of its balconies, looking up in awe at the bright spectacle. The boy gasped as he watched the star continue on its path, but it did not disappear into the sky. Instead, it lowered more and more along the horizon, and the boy could see in the distance, past the mountains, a bright flash, as if the star and tumbled into the earth itself.

The boy's imagination lit up with the possibilities of what the star might be, and he knew in his heart what it truly was. But the memory would be tucked away in his mind, and the boy would not think of the star again for many, many years to come. The last he thought of it was a dream he was to have that night, from which he knew that one day the goddess that fell from the sky would play a very large part in his life.

As the sun began to rise, its bright orange radiance shimmered through the trees. One might think the movement of the branches is what created the twisting and turning shadows, but this morning all the leaves were completely still. No, it is not the trees nor the wind, as the average onlooker might think, for few humans realize that the hour of Twilight is when the shadows come out to play.

But today the shadows are in an excited flurry, as a strange creature has entered their domain. The shadow beings twist and dance around the small thing, none daring to go near it, timid as they were. All this time, sitting among the grass, was a tiny baby girl. The baby's skin was bright pink and healthy, her stubby fingers grasping the blanket that covered her. Her hair was especially long for a child so young, with wispy blonde curls. But most intriguing was the single curl on her forehead, which was as green as the leaves on the summer trees themselves. The baby girl's face was contorted in a desperate plea, as her little voice cried out and screamed, tears running down her face. She was all alone in such a strange place. She did not know why she was there, or who had left her there? Where was her mother? Why was she so alone, surrounded only by the fearful shadows among the trees? She was just a child, and did not know. All she wanted was for someone, anyone, to pick her up, to soothe her, and tell her everything would be all right.

For a long time, the shadows looked on as the baby cried ceaselessly. Just as dawn was ending, and the shadows would have to return to their world, one more joined the fray. This shadow did not cling to the trees; instead, its form rose from the earth itself and took shape. The other shadows looked on in curiosity, and then quickly bowed away in respect for their Queen. The baby's cries quieted to a sniffle when the shadow loomed over her, and while it was difficult to see, she could make out the face of a woman, with warm red eyes and orange hair, a intricate brooch adorning her forward, covered by a black cloak. The Shadow Queen knelt down and wrapped her long, pale-skinned arms around the baby, and lifted her to her shoulder, stroking the small child's head. Her purple lips shaped into a smile, as the baby's sniffles turned to hiccups. She soothed the child, and hummed to her with a voice that truly sounded of another world.

"Now, now, little one," the Queen spoke softly. "Everything's going to be alright."


	3. Prologue III

**A/N: If at least one part of this prologue doesn't make you go "d'aaww!" then I have failed. :/ Anyways, if you do read this and choose to review it, please let me know how I'm doing on character description and descriptive details. That's always been my weak point, and these are characters I really want to bring to life! Faron might be my fictional baby at the moment, but The Legend of Zelda is Nintendo's kid, and especially the Triforce, that's their's too. Just borrowin' it for dramatic effect. :P**

III

Midnight looked around the throne room, peeking his head through the doorway to see if anyone else was there. The large, grandesque room was empty, except for the unmoving statues in the corners that served as the guards. The Twilight Prince giggled to himself as he ran into the room, which he normally wasn't allowed to play in, and ran up to the large throne and scrambled into the seat. He turned around, bouncing giddily as he pretended to survey his dominion. He reached his arms out to the armrest, his tiny black fingers barely gripping the stone, and he stood himself straight with a serious look on his face, mimicking how he had seen his mother sitting on the throne countless times before.

Midnight adored his mother, the Queen of Twilight, she was beautiful, and kind, and she never spoke a harsh word to her subjects or her only son. Even when the boy got into mischief, she did not chastise him. Her knowing looks were always enough for Midnight to see she did not approve, and she would hold the little child as he promised not to get into trouble again. Midnight grinned to himself, a single little sharp tooth poking out over his lips, as he remembered his mother's words, how one day all of the Twilight Realm would be his to rule over. The idea of it simply excited Midnight, but he thought it was funny how his mother never told him this with the sense of great pride or excitement that Midnight felt. She seemed almost sad to tell Midnight that, and he was not too sure why.

'How could she be sad about that?' Midnight thought to himself. He most certainly was not, especially if he got to rule over the Twilight Realm with Xantha. Midnight's gray cheeks flushed as he thought of his bride-to-be. Midnight did not understand nor care what an arranged marriage was, he just knew that the yellow-eyed girl with a long, red, braided hair was beautiful, but he didn't get to see her very much, as she did not live in the palace. He knew when he was older, he would marry Xantha, and she would come to live with him in the Twilight Palace, and they could play games all day long, whenever they wanted, instead of the few times Xantha came to visit while her guardians talked about adult things with the Queen.

The 8-year-old prince could picture himself as King, with Xantha as his queen, the two of them sitting on the throne together as the peaceful Twili joyously bowed to them, their rulers. Of course, in his childish mind he could not imagine Xantha or himself as adults, so he pictured the two children sitting together on the throne, one armrest for each of them.

He sighed and closed his eyes, those bright yellow orbs with red irises that sat like saucers in his pale little face. He felt so lonely sometimes, in this great big castle. He enjoyed his lessons as his mother taught him about the world he lived in, its history, and he especially enjoyed her stories of the world that lies beyond the Twilight Realm, a world where people live in light instead of shadow (a strange concept little Midnight simply could not comprehend). The Twili were kind, though very slow and boring, they simply could not keep up with the energetic child. There were no children of Midnight's age in the palace. Except for when Xantha came to visit, and Midnight's advisor-in-training Misha (a cowardly and nervous boy who was always afraid of breaking rules and tried to keep Midnight out of trouble, to no avail), Midnight had no one to play with.

Just as Midnight's thoughts strayed to his desire for a playmate of equal energy and curiosity as him, he looked up to see the door that led into the throne room glow and fade away as someone entered the room. Midnight smiled as he recognized the tall, elegant cloaked figure of his mother, and hopped off of the his perch and ran to her as she bent down to greet him. It was then he noticed some sort of bundle that she was holding to her chest.

"What's that?" the little prince questioned. His mother chuckled and smiled to at him, her beautiful purple lips upturned, her eyes, the same color-palette as Midnight's, shining at him.

"I have a gift for you, my darling," she said as she gingerly placed the bundle upright on the floor. Midnight bounced excitedly as she pulled the brown cloth away to reveal not some sort of toy but what appeared to be a baby, though it was the strangest looking baby Midnight had ever seen. It had bright pink skin and wispy yellow hair, except for the few bits that hung in her face that were a color Midnight had never seen before. For some reason, it reminded Midnight of the color his mother had described in her stories of the world of light, where things called trees had growths on them that, in a period called summer, shown with bright color she called "green." The baby's eyes shone as it looked at Midnight, and to his shock they were white balls with brown discs in the center. The baby seem to only have one iris in each eye! Midnight found this very strange, in addition to how chubby the baby's fingers were, and how her pink, drooling mouth had no teeth whatsoever. All that covered its pink little body was the brown cloth. He wondered why there were no shadows covering her skin, like the black patterns that covered his legs, waist, and most of his torso.

"What is it?" Midnight questioned after observing the strange little creature. The Queen chuckled again.

"Why, she's a baby girl, Midnight."

"But she looks funny…" he looked at his mother in confusion.

"That's because she isn't a Twili baby, sweetheart, she's a being of light." Midnight gasped as he realized that the little creature before him was one of the people who inhabited his mother's stories, she was from that other world. 'The world of light must be really strange' he thought to himself, looking at the cooing child once more. "She has no family of her own, so I decided to bring her home with me; she's your new little sister, Midnight. What do you think of that?"

A huge smile spread across his face. "A little sister? For me!" He grinned and nodded his head excitedly. "What's her name?"

"I thought maybe you, her big brother, should name her."

Midnight thought for a moment, looking over the baby's features, his eyes transfixed on the little wisps of green hair on her forehead. Suddenly, an idea came to mind.

"Faron!" he shouted with glee. "I'll call you Faron, like the forests in mother's stories!" His mother laughed softly.

"That's a lovely name, my dear."

"Hi, Faron," Midnight crouched to eye level with the baby. "I'm your big brother, Midnight! We are going to have lots of fun together! What do you think of your new name?"

The baby, Faron, stared at Midnight with a confused look on her face for a moment, before bursting into excited coos and giggles and crawling towards her brother, grabbing on to his shoulders. Midnight nearly fell over as she crawled on top of him, giggling like crazy.

"Ha ha! I think she likes me!" just then, Faron reached out and grabbed hold of the bright orange pony tail at the nape of Midnight's neck, the part of his hair that contrasted against the jet-black mop on top of his head. The baby gripped the glowing hair in between her chubby figures and yanked.

"OW! Ow! Ow! Stop that!" he gripped her by her shoulders and pulled her away, and she laughed hysterically, several strands of orange hair in her little grip.

Midnight began to chuckle himself as his mother laughed at the adorable scene. He looked once more at the happy little baby, and glanced at the hand that held his now separated hairs. He could not help but notice the patches of skin on the back of her hand that were a slightly darker pigment, in the shape of three perfect triangles.


	4. Prologue IV

**A/N: You wouldn't believe how happy it makes me to see people are even looking at my story. :D If you're enjoying it, than please leave a review, tell me what you like about it! If you're not enjoying it, and it's because of something I can fix, than let me know what you think needs changing! I'd love to hear if anyone's actually enjoying it so far. I'm at the point where I'm no longer ahead of what's ready to be published, so bare with me if I'm being a little inconsistent. Though showing that you're reading the story might inspire me to work faster! Nintendo owns LoZ, that's not about to change anytime soon. P.S. ZELDA WII U OMG!**

IV

Midnight let out a frustrated sigh as he glared at the black and white pieces on the board. Well, there were certainly a lot more black pieces than white ones. Even though she taught him everything he knew about the game of chess, his mother certainly did not go easy on him. The boy drummed his slender fingers on the table, trying to think of some way he could salvage the game, well aware of his mother's smug yet somehow encouraging grin looming over him. She always tried to reassure the child, but she never hid how content she was with herself at times. Though it was a little frustrating to be on the receiving end, Midnight admired that about the Queen. She never let her expressions completely betray her, but she also did not put on a mask either. That is why the Twili loved her so much, they knew from one look they could trust their queen, and Midnight wanted to be just like her.

Just as he reached forward to move his only remaining rook on the board, he stopped as he heard the pattering sound of bounding footsteps. Midnight looked up just in time to see little Faron run into the room and clamber into her mother's lap, her usual wide smile spread across her face.

"Wha yu doin'?" the three-year-old asked, reaching for one of the black pawns. Midnight could not help but smile as she looked at the piece with an incredible amount of awe. In the three years since he first met the little girl, she never stopped being fascinated by just about everything she saw. Her whole world, despite being fairly restricted to the palace itself, was an adventure to her, and she loved every moment of it. The Queen wrapped one arm around the toddler and brushed her bright green bangs out her face as she kissed the girl's hair.

"It's a game, my darling, it's called chess." She explained.

"Cheth?" Faron repeated as best she could with the few tiny teeth she had. "Can I pway?"

"Maybe not, darling," Midna mused. "It might be too complicated."

Faron seemed not to hear her. "Whath's this? Whath's this? Whath's this?" she asked repeatedly, picking up each game piece and not waiting for an answer. Suddenly she gasped. "Horsey!" She giggled and picked up the piece resembling her favorite animal. Of course, Faron had never seen a real horse. She recognized it from the drawings her mother showed her, when she told her the bed times stories of her adventures in the world of light. Faron always admired the drawing of the large brown horse with its white mane and hooves. She was not even sure why it was she liked the creature, it just seemed friendly to her.

"Yes, my dear," Midna gently took the piece from the girl's chubby fingers and showed it to her. "This one is called a knight."

"Knight!" the girl repeated, taking back the piece. She cupped it in both her little hands, and jumped from the Queen's lap and made to run out of the room.

"Hey, Faron, we need that to play!" Midnight shouted at her. She looked at him with a scowl on her face, and then proceeded to smile once more and walked up to her big brother, the piece displayed in her hands. He took it from her, mumbling thanks.

"Yu's welcoom!" Faron giggled and ran off, the sound of her bare feet padding on the floor echoing down the hall.

"Let's play a game!" Midnight declared, surveying his small audience for their reactions to his decision. The prince far more enjoyed playing with a proper group of friends. He of course always enjoyed Xantha's company, even if she rarely said a word and always stared with her blank yellow eyes and slight smile on her lips. At least she never appeared to be bored, and that is all that mattered to Midnight. He looked at Misha, who furrowed his brows, dreading what antics the prince would suggest now. Last time he thought it would be a good idea to chase after Shadow Kargaroks, and considering how much trouble they were in after one of the beasts tried to take off with little Faron in its claws, he was wary of Midnight's ideas for fun. Faron on the other hand was already bouncing giddily. Midnight wondered by what part his short sentence did he have her undivided attention. He probably did not even need to open his mouth, the girl considered virtually everything to be fun. He could have suggested they all take a nap and she would have been all for it, at least until it came to the act of actually falling asleep. Midnight grinned to himself, as he looked at the bare footed girl in her short black dress and the smile she always had on her face, even when she was being carried away by a giant shadow bird. In fact, the frightening event was probably the time of her nearly-4-year-old life.

"Let's play royalty!" Midnight finally suggested, seeing the sigh of relief from Misha, the increase of excitement in Faron and the continued blank expression of Xantha. "I'll be the king of course!"

"I wanna be the queen!" Faron burst in. Midnight frowned.

"No, Faron, you can't be the queen. Xantha's gets to be the queen."

Faron scowled at him. "Whhhyyyy?! I wanna be the queen!"

"Faron, when we grow up, Xantha's gonna be the real queen, so she gets to be the queen when we play. You can be the princess." Faron stomped her bare feet in protest.

"No, I don wanna be the pwincess! There's no pwincess in the game!"

Midnight looked at her in confusion. "Of course there is, Faron, it's royalty..."

"No, the bwack and white game!" Midnight realized she was talking about chess, her recent obsession. The girl still didn't know how to actually play, but she loved her mother's explanation of how all the pieces were like a real army, and she liked to set them up like they were dolls and reenact scenes from her imagination. "I wanna be the queen! The queen pwotects the king!" Faron continued to shout.

"Faron, all the pieces protect the king," Midnight sighed. "You can't be the queen cause Xantha is the queen, so pick another piece, okay?" Faron thought to herself for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"I wanna be the horsey!"

"You mean the knight?" "Uh huh!" "What do you want to be the knight for?" "Cause I wanna!" Faron then began to run around in circles, making what she at least thought were neighing sounds. Midnight shrugged his shoulders. Faron had to be the only little girl in the world who dreamed of being a knight in shining armor rather than a princess.


	5. Prologue V

**A/N: This part describes the goings-on over a period of several years, in case you get confused, the first part mainly describes around when Faron is 7 and Midnight is 15 and in the last scene Faron is 10 and Midnight is 18 (I've always liked that age difference between them. I have no intention of changing that, but if you're being so kind as to leave a review, tell me what you think of Faron and Midnight's dynamic so far). As I was writing, the opportunity to reference UndyingNephalim's Hyrule Total War kind of just came out of nowhere, before I knew it, it was there. :P Please let me know if you feel I sped up time a little too much here, if you would've liked to see a little more of Faron and Midnight's childhood. I know the Prologue is pretty lengthy as it is, but this is a full scale adventure saga, not some one shot, so bare with me! We're getting to the good bits soon enough! Nintendo owns LoZ and LoZ TP and its characters. I don't know why, but for while I didn't want to refer to Midna by name but then I just started doing so since I figured y'all would know who I was talking about. :) Also Midnight's hair is hard thing for me to describe, but it's completely inspired by Imp Midna's hair in TP, so if you can imagine that at its full length on a full grown teenage boy than that's the deal with that. **

V

Years pass by in the Twilight Realm and for Faron it seems like little changes. She does not mind one bit, since nearly every day is still an adventure. The palace is full of wonders, as is the beautiful orange hued landscape of the realm that she can view from nearly every balcony. Faron loves visiting the other Twili around the palace. She thinks they are funny, the way they swagger their steps and make mostly soft moaning sounds when she passes by. Unlike Midnight, who quickly became bored of the slow and peaceful creatures, Faron liked to slow down with them, try to hold conversations even if they were a bit one sided. She just liked the smiles they had on their faces when she spoke to them. Midna herself would sometimes watch as Faron spoke to groups of her citizens, miming out stories of her and her big brother's games, and more often re-enacting the tales her mother told her as bedtime stories. The Queen watched in awe and wonder, as the pink-skinned little girl seemed to imbue so much life in these apathetic life forms. Faron had plenty to spare and loved sharing it.

At 7 years old, Faron still enjoyed playing games more than ever, but she was beginning to find she had less people to play with. Unlike most teenagers, Midnight had not become immediately distant from her, despite how by all appearances he was too old to play imaginary games with her. In fact, it was not until Midnight's lessons increased in length and frequency that he began to spend less time with her. Now that he was 15, he spent almost all his time learning politics and whatever else it was he would need as a king. Of course, Faron had stopped looking to Misha as a playmate long ago. The boy quickly likened to his duty as Midnight's advisor, accompanying him constantly when it came to lessons and the royal duties Midnight had begun to partake in, and keeping his distance whenever the prince decided to spent time with his younger sister.

In recent years, Faron had noticed that Midnight became less of an active participant in their games, but she never bothered him on the issue, as the long orange ponytail that flowed down his back served as a physical reminder. Midna had explained that that part of the boy was the embodiment of the shadow magic he contained within himself, and that it almost constantly leaked from him and took physical shape. It had only grown longer over time as Midnight became more powerful, and at first, when he learned how to use it has an extension of his powers, shifting it into various shapes, he liked testing what he could do. It wasn't until several stern warnings from his mother and an incident that almost led to him crushing Faron in the grip of his magic hand when he tried to lift her off the ground, that he avoided using magic as much as possible, except in the lessons where he tried to learn to control it.

All the same, Faron could tell her brother was getting older. The looks he gave were starting to express a certain kind of sadness, the same she often saw on her mother's face. It was funny; just how much he was beginning to resemble the queen. He stood taller and quieter, and looked more thoughtful and knowing. Faron could barely recognize him when he stood in the throne room before chiefs of other Twili families. Though he rarely inputted anything, the few times he did speak to the elders, she could hear the growing authority in his voice. It made Faron sad sometimes to think that one day her brother would be king, and the version of him she saw slowly emerging would be his whole being. While she respected the responsibility placed on her brother's shoulders, she missed the days where they would spend all day exploring the outskirts of the Twilight Palace, playing pranks on the guards, getting Misha upset over how much trouble they could get in when they painting murals on the walls of the palace.

Faron even missed getting in trouble. She missed the chastising looks and the words of reassurance her mother would give her. Not only did Faron get in less trouble nowadays without Midnight constantly by her side, but she saw less of her mother as well. She knew the Queen's health was not quite what it once was, but she never expected her mother to slowly fade from appearance the way she had. She spent more and more time alone in her room, supposedly writing some sort of book about the history of the Light and Shadow realms' clashes, at least that is what Midna told her before disappearing once more into her chambers. Faron could not remember the last time her mother told her a bedtime story.

The one thing Faron had come to hate the most was when Xantha came to visit. When they were young, Faron never liked the strange girl. She always got an eerie vibe from her. The eeriness and discomfort soon grew into distrust and distaste as Xantha came to the palace more often as she and Midnight got older. Once Midnight was 18, she finally came to the palace to stay. Apparently, she and Midnight would be married in a matter of a few years. Faron hated how whenever Xantha was around, a whole other side to Midnight appeared, one that matched neither his fun-loving boyish self nor his serious adult self. It was the strangest thing Faron had ever seen, the way her brother practically worshipped the ground at Xantha's feet. When they were both teenagers and Xantha had begun her more frequent stays, there were times when Midnight wouldn't let go of Xantha's hand for what seemed like days. Faron certainly found the love he had for Xantha to be gross. Even at 10 years old, relationships were gross to her. But something about Midnight and Xantha was particularly disturbing. Midnight was completely enamored by her, yet she never seemed to so much as bat a yellow eye. Didn't Midnight notice at all?

When Xantha had finally begun to express some personality around Faron, it was not in a way that made her anymore pleased with the Twili girl. There were times where Faron came looking for Midnight and found the two having a conversation alone, and Xantha would shoot Faron the nastiest of glares. Sometimes she would bark at the girl to "Get lost" and "leave us be" with a voice that was far too harsh for her fair face. Midnight would at least furrow his brow when his fiancée spoke that way, but he would still turn to Faron and ask her to leave. Despite her own instinct, Faron would comply and wander off in a huff. Faron often wondered what it would be like to encounter Xantha on her own, how she would act towards her then, but she never seemed to see the girl without Midnight clinging to her side. Faron was almost beginning to wonder if, once they were married, he would be permanently attached to her.

Faron remembered the day, not long after she turned 10, that Xantha came to stay permanently, and it was a less than a happy memory. She had hoped she could get Midnight to play a game of chess with her like good old times, and had been wandering around the palace until she came to the entrance to the main balcony. She saw Misha standing in the hallway, and instantly knew her brother was not far behind. Despite Misha's protests that the prince should be left alone, Faron ran out onto the balcony with the chessboard clutched to her chest, shouting her brother's name. The blonde-haired girl was less than enthusiastic to see Midnight and Xantha in a tight embrace, his lips pressed against her cold purple ones, her yellow eyes wide open, in what probably seemed to Midnight as a passionate kiss. Midnight looked up when he heard the game board clatter to the ground, the pieces flying everywhere, to see Faron run off with tears in her eyes.

"Faron, wait!" Midnight pulled away from his fiancée and chased after his sister, realizing what she must have thought of what she saw. He finally found her hiding in an alcove in one of the hallways of the palace. It had always been their favorite hiding place whenever they upset one of the servants or stole something from the kitchen. Faron sat with her face buried in her knees, quaking with hard sobs. Midnight sat down next to her, the black cloak that draped along his shoulders spread along the ground, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, which she quickly shrugged away.

"Faron, look, I'm sorry," he tried to explain. "I know you don't like Xantha, but she IS my fiancée, I'm going to marry her Faron, you know that."

"I don't just 'not like' her Midnight," Faron looked up at him, her brown eyes darkening. "I hate her! There is something not right about her Midnight, can't you see that! She's not a good person; she's not good for you!" She stopped as she saw the sad look in his eyes.

"I know Faron. I know she is different, I know she does not express herself and I know she probably doesn't love me nearly as much as I love her. That is why I want her to be my queen. I know there is someone far stronger and better hiding inside of her; I want to help her Faron. She hides herself, and I want to show her that she does not need to. She matters to me Faron, can't YOU see THAT?"

Tears began to well up in Faron's eyes once more. "So what, I don't matter to you then? You're just gonna marry her, and forget about me, is that how this works?"

Midnight felt a sharp pain in his heart as he saw the pain in her eyes. "Faron, I… I didn't think you… Faron, I'm so sorry!" He reached out and pulled her into a hug. "Faron, I promise you, I would never abandon you! You are my sister, and nothing is going to change that, not Xantha, not the crown, nothing! You hear me?" She wrapped her arms tight around him and nodded her head against his shoulder, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

" I would never choose Xantha over you. I promise."


	6. Prologue VI

**A/N: Only one more chapter of the prologue to go! Hehe, I feel like I did some parts of these scenes pretty well, but I can't really explain why without spoiling things, so you'll just have to figure it out. I probably could've ended this one a little better, but I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't start to characterize Xantha too much and I really don't want to do that yet. This isn't the last we'll see of Xantha, though don't expect her reappearance in the near future. LoZ is copyright Nintendo and I am enjoying this so much, please leave some reviews! Also Xantha's theme song is totally "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry, I even found an orchestral cover of it that PERFECTLY matches this scene! :D**

VI

Faron did a little twirl as she admired her image in the mirror. She loved her new dress, a knee length black one covered with diagonal turquoise stripes. It had been a gift from one of the older servants, who noticed Faron was already outgrowing her last favorite dress. The old woman figured that now that the girl was 13, she would need new clothing made for her more often. The elderly servant had made clothes for Faron since she was a baby, a task she had found unusual when the Queen first asked it of her all those years ago. Most of the Twili did not wear cloth, instead using shadows to cover and decorate them as they saw fit. Clothing was more a symbol of wealth than necessity in the Twilight Realm. The thought reminded Faron of how much Xantha and the members of her clan covered themselves, even going so far as to wear large helmets that completely disguised their faces. No wonder Xantha was marrying the Twilight Prince—she was filthy rich.

For a long time, the difference between Faron and the Twili, while noticeable to even a young girl, did not bother her. As she got older, the shadow beings treated her more as one of their own, and it was even less important. Faron rarely thought of why she looked so different, and while she sometimes tried to vaguely ask her mother about her origins, she never pressed the question. It must not have been worth answering; otherwise, her mother would get the hint and explain it to her. Perhaps Faron would ask when she visited her mother's bedside today. After all, it might be her last chance.

The Queen of Twilight had fallen ill, now completely restricted to her bed as she wasted away. Even so, Faron enjoyed her mother's company, and would try to visit her as often as the servants would let her, and tell her often-sleeping mother the very same bedtime stories the queen had passed to her when she was young. Faron was not stupid, she knew her mother was dying, but that did not mean she had to be sad all the time as so many others were.

Faron skipped through the halls of the palace, carrying a handful of orange and black flowers she had picked the day before. Even if Midna was not awake, Faron was sure she would appreciate the flowers. As the girl turned a corner, she narrowly avoided colliding into her brother who was rushing past. He put a thin yet muscular black hand on her shoulder and pushed past her, mumbling "sorry" without turning his attention towards her. Faron huffed as he continued down the hall. Midnight had not paid much attention to her lately; he was too busy preparing for his wedding and coronation that was to occur in only a few days. She turned back to her path down the hall, abandoning her skip as she headed towards the Queen's chambers. She did not notice as Midnight reached the end of the hall, and quickly turned around, eyes wide and quietly followed behind her.

Just outside Midna's chambers, Faron noticed Misha leaning against the wall, a worried look on his face. She thought it strange to find him here of all places, normally he was clinging to Midnight's coat tails.

"Hi, Misha!" Faron waved at the Twili boy, who quickly glanced up at her and jumped in front the doorway that was Faron's destination.

"I'm sorry, Miss Faron, you can't go in there! The queen i-is busy!" His voice seemed to quake and he looked like he was sweating.

"What are talking about Misha, she's sick, I can't imagine how much business she'd be conducting in her state. I just want to visit with her and give her some flowers, now let me through!" Just as she was about to shove Misha aside, a task she could carry out quite easily despite how much older he was than her, Faron felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.

"Faron, you need to leave her be," Midnight spoke softly and quietly, almost a whisper. "Xantha's with her now, give them some privacy." Faron gave him the glare she always did when he talked about his fiancée.

"Why should I?" She knew whatever the reason was it was probably a good one, but she refused to be tossed aside so Xantha could have her moment. Midnight sighed, trying to think of the best words to give his younger sister, and kneeled so he was looking up at her with his big red eyes.

"Faron, you know mother is dying. Xantha is going to be the new queen, and she needs the old queen's blessing before we are married. It's tradition, but it's also a private discussion between them, you need to leave them alone okay? I don't want Xantha to miss her chance before mother passes away"

Faron snickered. "But I'm her daughter, not Xantha! I should be able to see her before she goes too! That witch is already taking my brother; she doesn't get to take my mother away from me too!" Faron ripped herself from Midnight's grip on her shoulders, and before he could protest or even reach to stop her, she shoved Misha aside and pushed the doors open into the nearly pitch black room.

"Mother, I'm sorry, but I wanted to see you! I-"

She stopped cold, eyes wide, as she looked upon the still form of her mother lying in her bed in the center of room. Through the darkness, Faron could see a gleaming red substance staining the sheets around the queen's body. The equally still form of Xantha stood before the scene, Faron could see her large bright red braid running down her back in the darkness, and could see her hands limp at her sides, blood dripping from an intricately shaped black knife she held in her hand. The flowers Faron was holding dropped to the ground, and she stood there, shaking, feeling as if she might scream but no noise came from her throat. Behind her, Midnight quickly sent Misha off to find a guard, and stepped into the room, about to put his hands on Faron's shoulders.

"Faron…" He stopped, looking up at Xantha, who had now turned to face them with an unusually wide smile on her face, baring a mouthful of sharp brown teeth, to the best of her ability anyways, as her purple lips were strung together with several strands of string. Midnight's own eyes widened as he looked at his fiancée, something was terribly wrong, she had not looked like this when he had spoken to her only hours before. "Xantha, you-What are doing?!"

Xantha's chest heaved as a hoarse, throaty giggle escaped her throat, and she took a step forward. "That's one down, my love," She spoke in her usual harsh voice, but somehow added a thick lust to it as she took another step forward, pointing the knife towards them. "Now, I just have to rid us of one more excessive piece." Midnight placed himself between the terrified Faron and Xantha who pointed the knife directly at the human girl. "Come on now, my love, don't be like this…"

"Xantha!" Midnight shouted his voice desperate. "I don't understand! What are you doing?! You do not have to hurt Faron, why—"

"Because I love you, my dear prince," Xantha answered, offering her other hand forward. "I want us to be together, forever, ruling over this realm, without any distractions. I cannot have you sharing your love with anyone else, not your mother or your sister, not even your people; I want you all to myself. Come here, my dear Midnight, we will be married just as we have planned all these years. You just have to give—me—the—GIRL." Her loving, lustful tone all but disappeared with her last demand. Midnight stood still, his teeth clenched, staring at the mad woman who was still slowly approaching. Faron quivered in fear behind him. He was not doing anything; he was not trying to get her away. Was he actually considering it?! Would he really choose Xantha over her…?

As if in answer to her question, Midnight quickly turned and scooped Faron up into his arms, taking off running down the hallway. Xantha scowled.

"So you've made your choice, Twilight Prince. You want to play this game with me, then so be it. You will regret making me your enemy. After them!" From the shadows, all around her came the ghastly dark forms of shadow beasts, their bodies barely separated from each other as they bounded after the fleeing pair in one giant black mass.

Sensing the monsters chasing after them, Midnight lifted his own feet off the ground, using his power to fly quickly through the halls of the palace, the shadow beasts still close behind, with Faron clinging to his chest. Misha was about to rush into the hall to see what the commotion was as Midnight and Faron zoomed past, followed by the beasts, knocking him to the ground. Misha cried out as one of the beasts broke off from the mass and began to chase him, and he fled down the passageway to find a place to hide.

Midnight and Faron made their way through the maze of the palace, finally finding their way out the main entrance out into the open Twilit air. They rushed over the gap between the entrance to the castle and the main courtyard, the beasts not being so smart and tumbling in a black waterfall over the edge and into the abyss below. Midnight and Faron now ran on foot, as Faron kept looking back towards the palace. She turned around to see the face of a shadow beast right in front of her, and screamed not only out of terror but out the realization that the creature was a not a shadow beast but a Twili, its body horribly twisted and mutated.

"What did she do to them!?" Faron screamed as Midnight pulled her towards the edge of the landmass the Palace of Twilight stood on. "We have to go back!" she cried out, "We can't just leave mother!"

Behind them, Xantha was slowly advancing forward, a menacing grin on her face. The ground beneath her feet was being broken apart by what could only be her own dark power, and she was reshaping the rocks into giant spears, preparing to send them forth to her targets. Tears streamed down Faron's face as she begged to go back to the palace, Midnight did not say a word as he lifted his open palm, and a huge transparent seal appeared in the air, its circular patterns and shapes compressing on themselves to form a portal away from the Twilight Realm itself. He looked back at Xantha, whose newly made weapons were pulled back and ready to fire, and looked into her soulless yellow eyes, pain filling his own. After one last glance, he turned away, Faron held tight against him, and they both disappeared in a blast of shadow particles into the portal, just as Xantha's spears shot forth into the portal, shattering it completely.

Xantha stood there, watching the place where her prey had stood only moments before. A twisted grin twitched itself on her face, before she turned and strode back towards the palace. Inside, she blasted away the door to the throne room, sending several guard statues flying, and with one swipe of her arm, she transformed a terrified servant into another shadow beast. As Xantha made her way towards the throne, with no one any longer standing between her and complete control of the Twilight Realm, she reached behind her and pulled the away the ties that held her braided hair together. It fell around her in red waves that nearly engulfed her sides and shoulders, flowing down all the way to her ankles. She spun around and took her place at the throne that now belonged to her and her alone.


End file.
